One Voice
by JdeGraff
Summary: A tale of Serena as a child and her first meetings with her friends.


One Voice Was Heard  
  
Author's notes: Ohayo Minna! Well I'm back with yet another story. This one is not set within the timeline of my other stories although it could easily fit there. I was inspired by the scene in Sailor Moon R the movie where Serena is shown as a young girl giving a young Darien a rose. The song One Voice was Heard also inspired this story to a degree. However the song does not appear in the story. I want to dedicate this story to my good friend Heather who has given me a more confidence in myself and has encouraged me in my writing and in life in general. Thank you my friend it means allot to me.  
Standard disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the characters there in. So please don't sue me.  
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My name is Pluto, Guardian of the Gates of Time and the Senshi of Eternity. I have seen many things in the several millennia that I have lived and I can tell that few things made the lasting impression that a certain golden-haired young woman has. I have always been amazed at her gentle nature and her belief in the power of unconditional love. None of the others remember what I will tell you now. It is a story from a time before Serena became Sailor Moon, a time when she was only three years old. In fact the only other Senshi who know what I am about to tell you is Serena herself.  
The tale begins in a hospital, a dreary place for a young boy only seven years old. He was in tears because a dear friend of his, his only friend would be leaving soon. In fact Fiore would be leaving today, and the small boy had no gift to give to his departing friend. So he cried. Cried because soon he would be alone again, alone with no memory of who he truly was. It was a heavy burden for such a small child to bare. It was one of the few times I have regretted not being able to alter certain events. I hated to see the future Endymion in such sorrow but I had to retain my resolve, you see I had an idea of what was going to happen. How did I know? I just knew that's all you need to know.  
Skipping through the halls a young golden child hummed merrily to herself. She had just become a big sister. She was so happy that the light seemed to radiate from her, infecting all around her. Orderlies and patients who saw the child couldn't help but smile at the child as she made her way to her mother's room. Following behind her father she carried a bouquet of roses for her mother, having been drawn to the beauty of the flowers. As she skipped down the halls she passed by the young Darien's room. Hearing the crying within she stopped and listened for a moment. Serena being a child gifted with the extraordinary ability to love walked over to the crying child and laid her head in his lap.  
"What's the matter?" she asked. Startled Darien looked down at the small girl and found himself willing to tell her.  
"My best friend is leaving today." He said through his tears, "and I have nothing to give him."  
"Don't cry," Serena said as she held out a single red rose. "Today I became a big sister. Congratulations." As Darien took the rose he smiled at the little girl before she skipped happily out of the room to her father who had started to call her. After this Darien gave the rose to Fiore and in doing so set about events that would come to a head much later in life, but that is another story.  
As for Serena, after seeing her mother and new little brother she and her father started home, but at the last moment Ken Tsukino decided to stop at the Cherry Hill Shinto Shrine to talk to the resident priest there. As the two men talked Serena decided to explore the grounds and see what she could see. Marveling at the beauty of the cherry trees she happily walked through the grounds her curiosity growing with every new thing she saw. For the second time that day she heard someone crying. Even at her young age Serena couldn't bare the thought of someone being in pain so she followed the sound to an old cherry tree. At the trunk of the great tree sat a girl about the same age as Serena. She had hair the color of ravens and violet eyes, red from crying. Smiling warmly she sat next to the girl and wrapped her arms around her.  
"Why are you crying?" she asked innocently. Startled the girl didn't know what to say, but she knew she felt safe in the golden-haired girl's arms. So she began to speak.  
"My.....my daddy left me here." she said as tears began to stream down her face again. "He said that Mommy wanted me to come here after she died, and Daddy doesn't like that my dreams come true. I'm alone now."  
"No you're not," Serena said hugging the girl closer. "I'll be your friend. My name's Serena and I became a big sister today, and I think its cool that your dreams come true." The raven-haired girl smiled at this and returned Serena's hug with equal force.   
"My name's Rei. Thank you" she said happily. At this time Serena's father again called out for her, as he was ready to return home. Serena stood with Rei and hugged her new friend again. Rei was about to cry again when Serena smiled at her.  
"Don't cry Rei.," she said happily. "I'll see you again ok?" With that she leaned in and gave her new friend a quick kiss on the cheek and merrily skipped off to join her father. Leaving a very happy young Rei behind her. Rei stared after her friend a started to giggle as a thought formed in her head. 'She was really nice, but why does her hair look like meatballs?' Laughing loudly now she ran through the grounds to her grandfather and hugged him.  
"Are you feeling better now Rei?" he asked.  
"Oh yes Grandpa." she said. "My new friend helped me feel better. Can I go feed Phobos and Deimos now?"  
"Of course Rei, just remember, don't feed them too much now."  
"I won't Grandpa." Rei said as she dashed off to talk to her ravens. Leaving her grandfather wondering what could have happened in fifteen minutes to make Rei go from being so sad to being this happy. Shaking his head he went back into the Shrine to meditate. Rei, meanwhile, was talking quietly to her two ravens as she fed them.  
"Guess what Phobos and Deimos?" she whispered. "I met a Princess today. She had to be, she looked like one, except for the meatballs on her head." Giggling she slowly petted the birds before heading back into the shrine to watch her favorite anime. As Rei sat and watched her favorite show, she thought about her new friend and decided that when they met each other again she would make her friend proud and be the best Miko that she possibly could. This decision would lead Rei into the most profound love she ever felt for another person. Though that is a tale for another time.  
Some weeks later Serena's mother returned from the hospital and the Tsukino household was filled with even more love, if one can imagine such a thing. They were a happy family and as most families do, one day they decided to take a trip to a local park. Serena ran through the fields happily, laughing and causing many in the park to smile at the child who took such joy out of the simplest things. Her parents watched her as she skipped and ran through the park, stopping at a field of flowers to smell the lovely fragrance. Her parents joined her and set out a blanket so they could enjoy the day with a picnic. As they ate together one of Ilene Tsukino's friends came over to talk to her old friend. As the two women talked Serena whispered to her father if it was ok for her to go exploring. He nodded his approval, so long as she didn't go to far and she dashed off to see what wonders the park held to be seen. As she skipped down a path to the playground she heard yelling. Running forward she saw two girls being picked on by a group of kids. They were calling the two horrible names making one of them cry. The other stood her ground and yelled back at the group. All this did was egg the brats on and it made young Serena very mad. She ran towards the group throwing small pebbles at the teasers making them scatter.   
"And don't come back ya jerks!" she yelled after them. Turning she looked at the older girls. They looked to be about the same age as the boy she had seen in the hospital. One had shortly cropped, dusty blonde hair, while the other had longer aquamarine hair.  
"Hi," she said. "I hope those kids weren't mean to you. That made me mad." The two girls stared in astonishment at Serena. Surprised that such a young girl made their tormentors run away like that. The girl with aquamarine hair stepped forward wiping her eyes.  
"Thank you for helping." she said as she hugged Serena. Soon another pair of arms was hugging her as well.  
"Thanks moonface." the blonde said. Serena giggled at the name, one only her father had called her before.  
"Happy to help. They were being mean, so I had to punish them." Serena said with mock authority. As the girls broke their embrace they went to the swings and played. Though the girl with aquamarine hair looked sad, as did her friend.  
"Why are you sad?" Serena asked innocently. The blonde spoke first.  
"Cuz Michi-chan is moving away. She's my only friend." Serena thought to herself that Michi must be the girl with the longer hair.  
"I won't get to see Ruka race anymore." Michi said through sniffles of sadness. Serena stopped swinging and hugged the two girls warmly.  
"But friends are forever right? You'll see each other again. I know it. Besides I'll always be here to be a friend." The two older girls hugged Serena back and as they were about to go back to swinging they heard a female's voice calling out Serena's name.  
"Oops, I gotta go now. Bye Michi-chan, bye Ruka-chan. Remember I'll always be your friend." With that Serena ran off to her mother leaving a very young Haruka and Michiru to think about what had been said. They looked at each other and giggled. They would see each other again, though at the time they did not know that when they did meet again they would not remember their brief time as childhood friends.   
Unknown to the three girls was that a another girl had seen all that happened and was in awe of Serena's friendly nature. She was a small child with auburn hair and emerald green eyes. She decided then that she would learn to fight so that if she ever found this girl again they could become friends and she could protect her from bullies as she had done to the two girls she hadn't even known. Young Lita happily skipped along on her way, a bug net in hand, and a strange feeling of happiness in her young heart. She knew that the blonde with the strange hair was important somehow, and she was determined to be her friend someday.  
Serena ran back to her mother, as she got there she saw the woman that Ilene had been talking to now had a girl standing behind her legs.   
"Serena," her mother said. "This is Mrs. Mizuno and her daughter Amy. I want you to keep Amy company and go play while her mother and I talk ok?"  
"Ok Mom!" Serena said happily. "Come on Amy lets go." Grabbing the blue haired girl's hand Serena dragged her along to the sandbox. As the girls reached the sandbox Serena noticed that Amy was trying not to cry. Serena smiled and hugged the crying girl and tried to calm her.  
"Why are you crying Amy?" she asked.  
"Because my daddy left today, and momma said he wasn't allowed to come back. He must hate me..." Serena tightened her hug and spoke softly to her new friend in a tone more mature than her years gave her credit for.  
"No one could hate you Amy, maybe he and your mom just couldn't stay together anymore. My mommy says that happens sometimes to people. Please don't cry, I'll be your friend." Amy stopped crying and smiled at Serena, the two broke out into giggles as they started to play again. After about an hour Amy was leaving with her mother, and Serena with hers. Both girls sound asleep and dreaming of things to come.   
As they left another blonde in the sandbox, was thinking about how happy the girl who just left was, they looked pretty much alike and she wondered what could be the reason behind it. She had been mean to some of the other kids, but after seeing how kind the other blonde was she decided that when she and her parents got to England that she would be as nice a person as the blonde that had just left. Thus did Mina's life take a decided turn for the better.  
There you have it. A tale of a single voice that would eventually bring all these people together. Someone who has even touched my own heart. Now sleep little firefly and perhaps I will tell you the story of my first meeting with the queen another time.  



End file.
